Eggblogg

Ask not what you get from the social web, but what you will give to it

I just read an interesting report on the We Are Social blog about recent research from Insites Consulting which found "a positive correlation between the extent of social media integration and the company’s financial results." The summary is in the form of an infographic (complete with at least one spelling error - the bane of infographics, alas) which I enjoy reading, but always end up with more questions than answers.

Apparently, the pharmaceutical and financial sectors are the least adoptive of social media at the moment. No surprises there really. That indicates to me that where issues of control, regulation and compliance are at the heart of a corporate culture, there will naturally be resistance to 'social'.

The report focuses on business deliverables and suggests that the way to start becoming more social is via pilot projects, one of which is 'build a community of fans', which sounds to me more like a big goal rather than a pilot project. Especially as one of the biggest difficulties when told to get busy on social networks and 'build a community of fans' is that most people don't have a clue what that involves. What should they talk about? How do they find their fans? What will turn people into fans?

And the hardest one of all for companies focused on the results they want to see from social media: what should they be giving rather than getting from their social involvement? I wonder if sometimes the question isn't really asked.

 

Overcoming social 'overwhelm' by setting modest goals

Do you ever have that sinking feeling when you open up Tweetdeck/Feedly/Facebook etc? I don't know about you but these are the kinds of things that frequently go through my mind:

1. everyone's so much more of an expert than me
2. everyone's business is doing so much better than mine
3. people are so much better at blogging/tweeting/interacting regularly than me
4. I have nothing to say that anyone will want to hear
5. aaaagghhh!

But from what people tell me, actually most of us are in the same boat: trying to understand everything, keep up with our peers, not get left behind, not be SEEN to get left behind...

So what's the answer?

How about that good ol' piece of advice we've all heard about setting goals - but modest ones, goals that are achievable. Every marathon starts with a single step or whatever.

With that in mind, here are a few of my modest goals for the coming week:

1. I will spend ten minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday checking out my Feedly, and each time will aim to read at least ONE blog post in depth, and comment on it.
2. I will write at least ONE reasonably meaty blog post (and aim for one or two more 'quickie' posts - of which this is one)
3. I will start up a conversation with THREE people on Twitter who I've never interacted with before
4. I will check my Google+ EVERY day and interact with at least 3 people this week - even if just to say hi
5. I WILL skim through Marketing Week BEFORE the next week's edition arrives

Not too daunting, methinks. What about you - do you set yourself weekly/modest goals? Does it work?

What does it take to become a more 'social' business?

Recently I followed a really throught-provoking webinar put on by Social Media Today, in which Maggie Fox of Social Media Group interviewed Sandy Carter, IBM Vice President, Social Business Evangelism and Sales. The theme was (broadly) how businesses can become more social. 

A lot of webinar opportunities pass through my inbox each day, but I liked the description of this one, in particular the assertion that "It's not all about technology, nor is it so much about marketing technique; it's more about changing basic assumptions and getting comfortable with the new communications reality ..."

Sandy shared many great insights based on her experience at IBM and her own research (she's an prodigious author and blogger), but the one thing that jumped out at me was her phrase 'culture eats strategy for lunch.' In other words, when you're looking at changing a company to become a more social business, you need to find out early on just how resistant the company's culture is going to be to such a change.

If the culture is against it, you can have the best strategy in the world in place, but it ain't gonna happen. For me this is yet more evidence that 'social media' as it's currently often handled (as function of/add-on to marketing, communications or PR) is a long way from where 'social' business needs to be in the long term.

As David Armano said recently, "Organizations that integrate social into how they do business will embrace social as a layer that's woven into the fabric of each business function over time."

Who 'owns' an employee's Twitter followers?

Some interesting debate in Marketing last week about employee Twitter accounts and who owns the relationship with followers should the employee leave the company.

On the one hand, media lawyer Mark Smith warns that companies should have a clear social media policy in which it is stated (for example) that employees "are not permitted to add business contacts... to their personal Twitter accounts, as this will allow the employee to easily retain details of business contacts in the event that they leave."

But Becky Brown, Director of Social Media for Intel, says that the company's goal is to make all employees active social media participants on behalf of the company and "ownership remains with the individual." Employees create and manage their relationships on Twitter, therefore they are theirs to take with them if they leave.

It's another example of how attitudes need to change before companies can really make the shift towards becoming social businesses. Companies such as Intel and IBM are leading the way here and not falling prey to the 'fear factor'.

If there are big issues of trust and control within the culture of an organisation, social initiatives (however well planned) will falter. Or, as Sandy Carter of IBM puts it, "culture eats strategy for lunch."

Seeing the opportunity to remove the mask

I liked this quote by Steven Taylor of hospitality group Starwood in last week's Marketing Week. 

"Social media has removed the 'mask' from our business. With traditional media, you could push messages, but with social media, the hotel experience is very much fed back to consumers who are making their decisions.....We also encourage every hotel manager to get involved with Trip Advisor."

How refreshing to hear a marketer talking as if he really believes social media offers a new, fresh, positive oppportunity that was missing in the days of 20th century marketing. And for someone in the hospitality sector to see Trip Advisor as something to get involved with, not an annoying pain they wish would go away.